Circuit-controller for electric railway-signals.



No. 784,857. PATENTED MAR. '7, 1905. H. B. SNELL.

CIRCUIT CONTROLLER FOR ELECTRIC RAILWAY SIGNALS.

APPLICATION PILED APR.15,1904.

| l l l l l l 1 l l l/ I I I l I I l I W (177,655 6.5.' Mentor z/M z?Wxfw Www NITED STATES Patented. March 7, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY B. SNELL, OF JACKSON, MICHIGAN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 784,357, dated March 7,1905.

Application filell April 15, 1904. Serial No. 203.350.

T0 fall Ill/1,0717, it nuty conccrn:

Be it known that I, HARRY B. SNELL, of Jackson, county of Jackson, andState of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful lmprovements inCircuit-Controllers for Electric Railway-Signals; and I do herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description ofthe invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon,whichform part of this specification.

This invention has reference to a circuit- Controller, and has especialreference to trolley-actuated means for controlling the circuits ofelectric railway-signals. In Letters Patent of the United States grantedto me bearing date February 23, 1904:. and numbered 7 52,719, I havedisclosed a mechanically-operated circuit-controller mounted upon thetrolley-wire, the same being' arranged to be operated by contact withthe trolley-wheel.

The device referred to or any other device adapted to be'mounted uponthe trolley-wire and be operated mechanically will be foundimpracticable, owing to the fact that they are not convenientlyaccessible when it becomes necessary to efiect repairs to the same,being liable to damage by the repeated contact of the trolley-wheel.

To overcome the liability to get out of order and to provide simple,inexpensive, and effective means for controlling the circuits connectedwith an electric railway-signal my invention is constructed; and itcomprises the novel arrangement hereinafter shown, described, andclaimed.

In the drawing illustrative of my invention, 1 and 2 are elongatedmetallic contacts mounted above the trolley-wire 3, being insulatedtherefrom by any suitable means, that shown being an intervening stripof insulation 4. The contacts 1 and 2 are separated from each other attheir adjoining ends by an air-space 5 or by any other suitable means tocause them to be out of direct electrical connection with each other.The contacts 1 and 2 are further arranged so that when the trolleywheelis passing underneath them an electrical connection will be establishedtherethrough with the trolley-wire. Furthcrmore, when the trolley-wheelis passing underncath the air-space 5 the connection with the contact 2will be established before the trolley-wheel h'as left the contact 1,and vice versa. Operated in connection with the trolley-contacts 1 and 2is a Controller 6, protected from the weatler by being' housed within asuitable case (not shown) secured to one of the trolley-poles along thetrack of the railway or any other convenient place. Said Controllercomprises a metal frame or base 7, upon which is mounted a tilting table8, of insulated material, carrying 'flat resilient strips 9 and 9',secured at their inner ends thereto, the outer ends of saidcontact-strips being adapted to normally rest upon metal contactpoints10, mounted upon blocks of insulating material 11, supported upon thebase. Upon the bottom`of the table 8, on opposite sidcs of its pivotalconnection with the base, are provided armatures 12 and 13, adapted tobe actuated by the attractive force of magnets 14. and 15, alsosupported upon the base.

16 and 17 are contact-strips carried on the lower face of the table atits outer ends, the same being' adapted to contact with the free ends ofresilient metal contact-strips 18 and 19 and 18' and 19', respectively,when the table is tilted on one side or the other by the action of themagnets. The strips 18 and 19 and 18' and 19' are secured at their outerends upon the blocks of insulation 11.

20 and 21 are wire circuits leading' from the trolley-contacts 1 and 2to binding-posts secured upon the inner ends of the strips 9 and 9',rcspectively, and 22 and 23, respectively, are branches from saidcircuits leading' to the contact-strips 19 and 19'.

24 and 25 are connections leading from the contacts 10 through themagnets lL and 15 to the ground.

26 and '27 are fiexiblc cord connections between the contacts 10 and thecontact-strips 16 and 1'7.

28 and 29 are line connections leading from the contact-strips 18 and18' to a suitable signaling device or indicator.

30 indicatcs a trolley-wheel moving along the trolley-wire in aright-hand direction.

lVhen the Controller 6 is not in operation,

IOO

into the elongated contact 1, the same being i conducted through thecircuit 20, through the resilient strip 9, resting upon the contact onthe left, and through the magnet 14 to the ground, the complete circuitbeing indicated by the heavy lines in the drawing. The magnet| 14 beingenergized by the passage of the current therethrough will attract thearmature 12, the table 8 being drawn downwardly on this side, theopposite side being elevated. It is apparent that as long as thetrolley-wheel remains in contact with the trolley-contact 1 the currentwill continue to pass from the trolley-wire through the magnet 14 andmaintain the table in tilted position. Owing to the tilted position ofthe table the plate 16 will contact with the free ends of the strips 18and 19. The flexible connection 26 will therefore lead the 'current fromthe contact 10 on the left ofthe plate 16 and therefrom through theline-circuit 28, leading to a signal device or indicator adapted toindicate the direction in which the car is running. As the trolley-wheelpasses the air-gap 5 the circuit through the elongated contact 1 and theconnection will be broken. However, contact of the trolley-wheel withthe trolley-contact 2 will be closed before that with the contact isbroken. The current from the trolley-wire will therefore Continue topass along the connection 21, the branch 22, and through the strip 19and the plate 16, the flexible connection 26 to the contact 10, fromwhence it is conducted vthrough the connection'24 and the magnet 14 tothe ground. It is apparent that owing to the contact of thetrolley-wheel with the trolley-contact 2 before the connection with thecontact 1 is broken there will be an uninterrupted passage of thecurrent through the magnet 14, thetable 8 being tilted in one d irectiononly while the trolley-wheel is passing the entire distance along thetrolley-contacts 1 and 2. On the other hand, when the table is tilted,as has been described, the contact-strip 9', normally in contact withthe contact 10, will be raised from said contact, the connection betweenthe two being broken as long as the table is tilted on the oppositeside. Therefore in the action of the device hereinbefore described whenthe trolley-wheel passes from the contact 1 to the contact 2 the currentwill' not be conducted through the circuit 21 and through the strip 9'to the contacty 1 0, the

table remaining without interruptionin tilted position while the trolleypasses underneath the contacts 1 and 2. As the trolley-wheel continuesin a right-hand direction along the trolley-wire and leaves the contact2 the circuit to the Controller 6 Will be opened and the table willinstantly resume its normal position in a horizontal plane owing to theresiliency of the strip 9, both the strips 9 and 9' then again being incontact with the contact-points 10 on opposite sides; The connectionbetween the plate 16 and the strips 18 and 19 will now again be broken,as it was prior to the operation of the device. The action of thecontroller 6 When the trolley-wheel passes in an opposite direction willbe the reverse from that described, the table 8 being tilted in anopposite direction as long as the trolley-wheel is underneath thecontacts 2 and 1, the current being then closed into the line-Wire 29,leading to the signal device. It will thus be seen that as thetrolley-wheel passes in a right-hand direction the line-wire 28 alonewill be active, and as the trolley-wheel passes in a left-hand directionthe line-Wire 29 alone will be active.

By means of my invention the employment of a mechanical device havingmoving parts adapted to bc actuated by the trolley-wheel is dispensedwith.

The novelty, simplicity, and improved operation of my invention will beobvious.

I do not wish to confine the application of my invention to railwaysemploying overhead trolleys, since-it is apparent the same may beemployed upon three-rail or ground-circuit systems.

VVhile I have specifically illustrated a preferred embodiment of myinvention, I do not intend to limit the scope thereof to the exactconstruction shown, asv modifications and changes in detail may be madeand appropriated in such a way as not to constitute a substantialdeparture.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1s-

1. In a Circuit-Controller for railway-signals, a pair oftrolley-contacts insulated from direct connection with each other andfrom the trolley-wire, a magnetically operated controller, twoline-circuits leading from the controller to a suitable signal device,and connections whereby atrolley-wheel passing beneath thetrolley-contacts in one (lirection will close the current from thetrolley-wire through one of the line-circuits and when passing in theop-, posite direction through the other line-Circuit, substantially asdescribed.

i 2. In a Circuit-Controller for railway-signals, a pair of elongated,metallic contacts rigidly supported above the trolley-wire, andinsulated therefrom and from each other, a magnetically-operatedcontroller, independent connections from the trolley-contacts to thecontroller, two line-circuits leading from IOO the controller to asuitable signal device, and connections Whereby a trolley-Wheel passingbeneath the trolley-contacts in one direction will close the currentfrom the trolley-Wire through one of the line-circuits and When passing'in the opposite direction through the other line-cirouit, substantiallyas described.

3. tln a Circuit-Controller for railWay-signals, a pair of elongatedtrollev-contacts arranged in line with each other above the trolley-Wireand insulated therefrom and from each other, a Controller embodying' inits construotion a pivotally-supported table adapted to be tilted on oneside or the other, independently-actuated magnets on opposite sides ofthe pivotal support of said table, and connec- HARRY B. SNELL.

fitnessesz CARL H. KELLER, EUGENE GWINNER.

